Seeing Red on YouTube

Today is World Red Cross Day and the commemoration marks over 60 years of the Red Cross preparing communities for emergencies and providing disaster relief to those in need. Over the past few years, the organization has been using YouTube to help achieve these objectives.

For example, the British Red Cross posted this nine-video how-to series about first aid. The videos cover everything from how to perform CPR to how to treat a burn. Not to be outdone, the American Red Cross has just uploaded sixteen very pertinent videos all about swine flu, including information about how it spreads and how to prevent infection.

In addition, today the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies will launch an ambitious new campaign, called "Our World. Your Move," which aims to raise awareness of today's most pressing humanitarian challenges and highlight the power of individuals to make a difference. Interested in taking part? This animated short can serve as your introduction:




Yours,

Ramya Raghavan
YouTube Nonprofits & Activism

Water, Water Everywhere But Not a Drop to Drink

Currently, 1.1 billion people don't have access to clean drinking water -- that's one out of every six people on the planet. Today, to commemorate World Water Day, we're featuring three videos on the home page that highlight the urgency and importance of providing clean water and sanitation to every single global citizen.

This video, from YouTube nonprofit partner charity:water, conveys the urgent need to build wells in the Central African Republic by juxtaposing powerful images with Beck's "Time Bomb":

Like charity:water, GOOD Magazine is also leveraging pop culture to spur citizens to take action. They've created a three-video series, rooted in familiar water-oriented scenes from iconic films and television, to demonstrate that life without clean water can be a very frightening prospect:



And if you're looking for straight facts without the fluff, this brief documentary from the International Red Cross provides specific information about how chronic water and sanitation challenges are affecting Zambia.

You can help solve the global water crisis by contributing to these worthy organizations -- and by sharing their messages with your friends.

Yours,
Ramya Raghavan
YouTube Nonprofits & Activism